LibGuides: Faculty Guide to Education Research: Finding Articles

General Search Tips

All databases will give you the option of limiting your search to Scholarly or Peer Reviewed articles.

Do not check the Full-Text only box. This will limit you to only the full-text available in THAT database, not to the extensive list of journals that are available from the Cheng Library.

If your topic is too broad, you'll get too many articles (over 500).

If you get too few or no results, check your spelling, or use related seach terms, e.g. instead of grade 12, try secondary education.

Look at the descriptors or subject terms to identify appropriate search terms.

Use the term, and, to narrow your search, e.g. computers and instruction.

Use the term, or, with related terms to broaden your search, e.g. computers or technology.

Avoid using complete sentences or prepositional phrases in the search box.

Different databases use different search terms. You may need to adjust your search terms as you move from one database to another.

If you are working on a major research project, keep a search journal recording the databases you used, the search terms you tried, and the success of the search. This can keep you from repeating an unsuccessful search.

Find Articles about Education Topics

Here are links and brief descriptions of the Library databases that can be used to find articles in Education.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Large, interdisciplinary full-text database contains over 4,800 full-text publications, including academic journals, magazines, books, and trade publications. Offers broad subject coverage for a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, area studies, biology, chemistry, ethnic and multicultural studies, food science and technology, general science, geography, law, mathematics, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion and theology, women's studies, and many other fields. Funded by the the New Jersey State Library.
ERIC (via EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
The ERIC database, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, provides access to more than 1.3 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials. Included in the database are citation records, abstracts, and (where available) full-text links for journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers, and other education-related materials. [1966 - present]
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) This link opens in a new window
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. The database provides abstracts and - where available - links to the full-text of journal articles, plus citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,500 publications, and it also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, and dissertations. [1973 - Present]
Google Scholar (Full Text @ Cheng Library) This link opens in a new window
Access full-text articles from the Library's subscription e-journals using the familiar Google search engine.

For access to our subscription journals through Google Scholar, select the link above and then follow these steps:

1. Click on the top-left corner menu on the screen

2. Select "Settings" from the menu

3. On the next page, select "Library links" from the menu on the left side of the screen

4. Type "cheng" in the search field and run the search

5. Select "David and Lorraine Cheng Library - Full Text@Cheng Library" and then click on the "Save" button

This will enable you to see the "Full Text@Cheng Library" links displayed with your search results.
ProQuest Education Database This link opens in a new window
The ProQuest Education Database includes over 1,130 full-text periodicals and 18,000 dissertations, supporting research on the theory and practice of education. Education Database covers not only the literature on primary, secondary, and higher education but also special education, home schooling, adult education, and hundreds of related topics.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
PsycINFO is the principal abstracting and indexing database covering peer-reviewed literature in the behavioral sciences and mental health. The database currently contains over 3.3 million records for articles from over 2,500 journals, books, and dissertations. Although the major focus of the database is psychology, it also includes information about the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, technology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law, and others. The records in PsycINFO are organized by a rigorous and detailed system of subject classification to support high-precision searching, and links to full-text content are provided where available. [1887 - present]

Keeping up with Research

Keeping Up with your Research

There are many ways to keep up with new research in your field. Two options are: Journal Alerts services and Search Alerts.

Journal Alerts are generally processed through a journal's homepage, and allow you to set up notifications when new content is available. This is often in the form of an email, and presents you with the Table of Contents for upcoming issues. Access to full-text may require a subscription, but you can also check the Library's holdings to see if we already have it for you!

Search Alerts:

are set up through individual Library databases, and do much the same thing as a Journal Alert... EXCEPT that these alerts can be based on a search query, showing you new articles that match your search criteria.

Remember that we can always request items through Interlibrary Loan, if we don't have them in our collections!

Getting Persistent Links

When sharing links to articles or adding them to your Blackboard courses, it’s important that you use the correct URL to ensure that links work properly.
To get a shareable link, you’ll want to look for a dedicated link that points your browser to the specific document (article, ebook, etc.). In our EBSCO databases, this is called a Permalink, but it may be labeled differently in others.

Learn more with the attached document!

Getting Persistent Article Links from Library Databases

Have a Question? Contact a Librarian:

By phone

Call 973-720-2116

The Reference Desk is staffed until 10PM Sunday-Friday and until 8:00pm on Saturday.

By e-mail

Send your question to the Reference Desk via email - refdesk@wpunj.edu Allow 24 hours for a response.

Schedule a Research Appointment

Contact the library for an appointment with a Reference Librarian: Schedule Research Help